A new year full of changes at HARTE-BAVENDAMM
New Partners – New Perspectives
Cathérine and Janna are not only lawyers with excellent expertise, but have also contributed significantly to the success of our firm over many years with their dynamism and commitment.
Their admission to the partnership is a sign of the dynamic development and continued success of our firm. We are proud to have such talented lawyers on our team and look forward to continuing our successful collaboration.
At the same time, their appointment marks an important milestone for HARTE-BAVENDAMM: as of 1 January 2024, we will have more women than men in the partnership for the first time.
New Year – New Look
But that is not the only change the new year brings for HARTE-BAVENDAMM. We have launched a new, completely re-designed website. Needless to say, we remain true to our roots and our credo: “Firm Foundations – Inspired Solutions”.
Our new look continues to be characterised by the backdrop of the Elbphilharmonie –Hamburg's most beautiful landmark and a source of inspiration for us every day when we look out of our office window.
A Look Into the Future
We firmly believe that a flexible, specialised unit such as ours is best placed to meet the needs of our clients. We will continue to strive to provide the highest level of personalised and tailor-made legal solutions.
Thank you for your trust. We look forward to starting this exciting new year together with you.
Your team from HARTE-BAVENDAMM
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